La organización de una actividad de role-play

Newcomers will naturally look for co-workers with whom they can develop

relationships that will support them at work in terms of friendship, and with whom

they can discuss situations of anxiety and uncertainty. Participants chose colleagues a)

who contributed to their work, b) with whom they had developed a trusting

relationship, c) who had matching working styles, d) who had been in similar

situations, e) who had matching interests, and f) who were friends from before. There

were also some few participants who were not interested in building friendship

relationships at work.

a) Contributing to participant’s work: Participants developed friendship relationships

with colleagues who tried to help them with their work and their careers. This

represented 31% of relationships from a total of 369. For example, Participant 18

recognised her boss had this positive attitude towards her and so she felt she could

trust her and find support in her:

“My boss, I choose her because she worries, she showed interest in

trying to help me with my career, let’s say: ‘I am going to facilitate

9

The total of friendship relationships is 76. However, there is detailed information that explains why they are chosen as friends for 36 relationships.

your way for that’. And she tries to do it actually.” (Participant 18,

Follow-up interview)

b) Having developed a trusting relationship: Being able to share important and

sensitive issues requires trust. Participants mentioned that although they had a

friendly relationship with many people, there were not that many with whom they

shared their concerns, choosing only those with whom they had developed a

trusting relationship over time. This represented 22% of friendship relationships.

Some participants, who were making a change in the same organisation, had been

able to develop a friendship relationship over time which was very useful in these

times of uncertainty. For example, Participant 18 had a long lasting relationship

from whom she got social support:

“Internally, the one I trust more to tell her things is Marcela. Because

the rest, let’s say my former peers, I tell them some things but not

everything I am telling you, more kind of ‘Yes, everything is going

right, I am learning a lot’ but not other things…" (Participant 18, First

interview)

c) Having matching working styles: As happened with relationships providing

strategic information, many participants also chose as friends those with whom

they shared working styles. This represented 19% of friendship relationships. This

has some agreement with previous research results which show that students

attaining similar levels of academic performance are more likely to develop

friendship ties, since academic performance could be related to a way of managing

study and work (Lomi et al., 2011). For example, Participant 11 commented about

“Basically because we are more alike, we share a similar vision of the

company and how we do things... It is basically that, similar ways of

being.” (Participant 11, Follow-up interview)

Participant 15 made a similar comment about a work-friend:

“We met at a Project meeting, and you know, when you have a similar

way of thinking, it inevitably happens, you feel more at ease.”

(Participant 15, Follow-up interview)

Participant 13 commented about someone who had been identified as a friend in

the first months but not later. What changed the relationship was that he realised

he did not share his working style.

“He is like those guys who manage things but are like steam, you

know? You realise that each topic you talk about he says ‘I’ve been

through that’. At the beginning I would think ‘wow, that’s great’. […] I

got into his area a little bit because it is part of my role, not because of

wanting to bother, all the contrary, I always try to look at the issues

together. But he is a guy… who just goes with it, because he has been

doing it for years. But professionally, no… […] Well, at some point I

identified him as a friend. It is not that he is no longer in my network

but I don’t put him in terms of friendship.” (Participant 13, Diary)

d) Being in a similar situation: Passing through similar experiences seems to be a

bonding situation. At the same time, this allowed participants to find support in

these colleagues as they felt understood and at the same time could get more

personal advice as they had gone through the same and learnt on the way. This

this transition moved to France, became friends with another Argentinean

colleague who had moved there five years before.

“He is Argentinean. When I got here, on the first day he came and he

told me ‘come here, this is where you buy this, this is where you can

get these things, this is how things are here’. As he had lived here for

five years, in fact his second daughter was born with the same doctor

my daughter did." (Participant 21, Follow-up interview)

e) Matching interests: Participants developed friendship relationships with co-

workers with whom they shared general interests and hobbies. This represented

6% of friendship relationships. For example, Participant 2 became friends with

those who liked playing football:

“We are all the same age; we have the same interests. […] And that

allows you to broaden your network of contacts and friends… and what

better way to get along than a sport. It is very integrating…”

(Participant 2, Follow-up interview)

f) Being friends from before: There were some participants who, although were

making inter-organisational transitions, reunited with prior friends in the new job.

This represented 3% of friendship relationships. Participant 10 is an example:

“When I started at X company we became very good friends. Then I

left that company to go to Y, and we continued being friends, and he

was the one who contacted me saying ‘look, they are looking for a

person here, if you want to…’ And now, obviously, being working

together and being friends, there are lots of things that I confide in him,

Finally, there were some participants who were not interested in building friendship

relationships at work. They felt they already had their personal friends and were not

prepared to invest time in forming friendship relationships at work. This was the case

for Participant 17:

“I leave work and ‘goodbye, good luck’. I don’t relate. I mean, I do

relate but I don’t want to go out for dinner with my colleagues after

work, you know? I have my own life besides." (Participant 17, Follow-

up interview)

Others were cautious of with whom to develop friendships. For example, Participant

11 reflected on her job demanding her not to be ‘friends with everyone’ since the

interests of people occupying certain positions could be opposite to those of her role

and becoming friends would put her in a difficult situation:

“...because of my job I cannot be friends with everyone. I think I did

really well by not attending when they invited me to birthday parties,

because my position is very complicated in terms of personal

relationships. I report to the General Manager because the Operations

Manager wants me to do something, the Sales Manager something else,

and the Marketing one something else. Each one with a concrete, real

interest, and even legitimate to some point. So, I report directly to the

General Manager so that I have a neutral place. Finance wants you to

report everything and maybe the General Manager does not want you

to report everything. So, there is an equilibrium, that’s why I depend